I could hear a cheer go up as the vortex came down, though I was also pretty sure very few could see the vortex from where they were standing. Rather, there was a clear and distinct change in the way everything felt. Where the destruction of the underground complex had changed the availability of magic, turning off this relatively insignificant machine seemed to release whatever else it had been holding back. Even the streams of colored sprites seemed to shift and change, morphing into something less distinct and more important, as they combined and flew off into the forest.

Looking around, I caught sight of Moment heading in my direction. Bal was following and had my satchel held in front of her. Borrowind had found his own way down into the crater and was watching as Moment flew over the giant mushroom and alighted on her guard in front of me.

“The magic has been restored to the valley,” Moment said. “The council thanks you and honors you for your efforts.”

I smiled at Moment, trying hard not to laugh. My efforts had only existed for three or four days and really, I was thinking, my returned presence was probably the change the forest needed to free itself. Not that the forest was cognizant of anything, but the creatures of the forest were and they needed something to change.

“What happens next?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Moment asked.

“I mean with your council and the creatures of the forest. It seems to me you’ve all agreed to arrangements that can’t continue to exist where magic is unrestricted and if Queen Maeve is in the forest, her own people will have been waiting at the border for it to fall. I don’t think Queen Maeve and the elves and others are likely to continue living harmoniously together for much longer.”

“You sound like Barrowind,” Moment said. “He’s as negative as you.”

“I wouldn’t call myself negative as much as a realist. I’m sure your scholars will tell you history is replete with examples of oppressed people becoming free and ethnic groups suddenly reforming and fighting against each other. How is this any different?” I said.

“This time is different,” she said. “Even though the forest is free, we still have a lot to discover and much to restore before any of us can move on.”

“Not me,” I said. “I think I need to check on other things. Most especially the river and the castle.”

“Why would you do that?” Moment asked.

“Because, before I was trapped there was a castle, bridges, and a city on the other side of the river. The flats on this side of the river were a parade ground and used when the king or queen or whoever was preparing for war or wanted to show off. If the barrier was just this,” I motioned at the giant mushroom we were still standing on and let my eyes land on the faerie guard, “then I should be able to see more across the river. Which is the only thing I’m going to care about.”

“I believe that’s a bad idea,” Moment said. “We’ve sent scouts to the barrier to see what’s happening and while we haven’t heard back yet, it would be prudent to allow them to complete there assessment before we start doing things like that.”

“Looking?” I asked.

“Pushing at things that don’t need to be pushed at,” she said.

“But you sent me to push at Ethan.”

“The monster.”

“Okay. And I beheaded him and then you wanted me to destroy whatever was left behind. And I did that,” I said. “Then, in what was clearly against everyone’s wishes, I dropped down into the crater and was the one who entered to turn off whatever that is,” I pointed at the black machine.

“I’m beginning to think you’re trying to manipulate me,” I said, finished.

“Why would we do that?” Moment asked. “We’ve made covenants with you that affect all faerie kind. There is no reason to assume we’re trying to slow you down when we’re attempting to assist you.”

I looked at her for far too long, it was clear Moment and the now changed faerie guard she was standing on were uncomfortable with just how long I stood there saying nothing.

“I’m helping you,” I said and as I said the words, I looked past Moment to take in Barrowind. I don’t know why I needed to look at the bear. Up until that moment, I’d considered him a potential ally. In truth, I still did, but somehow, I also understood part of the key to my understanding what was going on was seeded in how everyone interacted with and through him. He wasn’t just a leader; he knew something important.

Not about me. I was a lucky coincidence, a fortunate circumstance that allowed the equation of the forest and the magic to change. For a moment, I thought about flexing my powers to make a point and then decided against it. If a small, cube of a black machine sitting on this large of a mushroom could influence so much about magic, I was immediately concerned with what would happen were I to use my powers while standing in the middle of the thing.

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Not that I wasn’t tempted, mind. I was. Chaos is my jam, but chaos is only my jam when I have some control over it. Not when it could be used against me or in some other way. Moment knew something. Barrowind knew something. There was a very good possibility almost everyone knew something except for me.

That made me uncomfortable in my skin, kind of like it was fitted too tightly to my body.

What was really bothering me was how paranoid I was feeling by almost everything. Moment was one focus on that paranoia. The changed faerie was another focus, though I had no idea why. As I looked around, from Barrowind to Moment to the rim of the crater, I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d gotten myself into. Not by choice. Choice had been taken from me thousands of years ago, but by circumstance and proximity.

I started to move past Moment and get guard and the guard stepped in front of me. “You need to stay with us,” Moment said.

“I’m not going to do that,” I said. ”And I’m fairly certain there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Moment took off from the guard and I stepped back, having predicted the guard's movement. With a flick of my wrists, I opened a magical portal behind the guard and watched as she fell through. I had no idea where she went or what happened, my powers were strong, but this was something else entirely. I could feel the massive expenditure of power flowing through me and so could Moment, it seemed.

“What did you just do?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know.”

As I watched the hole close up and felt the power of the giant mushroom relax, I also felt myself beginning to panic and looked around. “What do you make me do?” I asked.

I knew that no one made me do anything. Especially in hindsight. But in that moment, it felt as though I was the only one who had any sense about them and Moment was still trying to trap me. Especially as other faeries started to fly across the mushroom toward me.

“Keep back,” I said and took another step backward, not looking. When the heel of my foot hit the black machine, I fell backward and as I flailed about, trying to imitate a cat’s twist in the air to land gracefully, more of my powers erupted from me and sent Moment and the entire faerie guard through a similar hole of magic. What was happening?

In an instant, Barrowind stepped onto the mushroom and motioned for me to breath.

“What’s happening?” I asked, directing my question at the bear.

“I don’t know,” he said through his bear rumble. “Can you undo what you just did?”

I shook my head. “I don’t even know what I just did,” I said.

“The queen will not be pleased,” he said. “Moment was her voice in the forest. We will have to face that later. I feel as though you should get out of this crater and back into the forest proper. As a magica being,” I am not a magical being, “the giant mushrooms may act differently with you in close proximity.”

Okay. Sure. That sounded as good a reason as any other for what I was going through.

“Stay back,” I said, motioning for Barrowind and everyone else to give me room as I got up and stumbled across the mushroom, which – to me – felt even less firm, until I was standing on dirt near one of the remnants of the underground compound.

Bal followed, still holding my satchel in front of her while Clippings looked from me to the edge of the crater and started making his way through everything to the side, locating a path up that would work for me and other non-flying beings.

I followed him up and into the trees, only then feeling like I was close to being myself again.

“You should come with me,” Barrowind said. “We’ll have tea in my den and discuss things.”

That surprised me.

“Aren’t you afraid of me?” I asked.

“What about you would make me afraid?” Barrowind asked.

“I just did something to an entire group of faeries,” I said. “And I don’t know what I did.”

“That is true,” he said. “Are you planning on doing something to me?”

I shook my head.

“Not that it would matter,” he said. “We know of you, Flora Rose. The bears that is. We have a long memory and one that tells us you were friends of the forest creatures. It’s because of this that I advocated for you in the forest council. I believe in your integrity.”

“I’m not sure I believe in my own integrity,” I said and tried to give the bear a smile.

He huffed close to my face and then turned and led the way through the forest to where he’d built a den, an entire bears house in the ground under a very large, very old tree. I looked up and could see the branches, well above my head, and then watched as Barrowind moved aside some bark that perfectly hid the entrance and followed him inside.

I’d never been in a bear’s den before, nor any creatures home and this one was amazing. Immediately inside was a library filled with bear sized books and a few very comfortable looking chairs. There was a fire in the grate and off in the other direction, complete with a window looking out into the forest, was a kitchen. I could see, and feel, that the window was hidden using magic and would be impossible to find from the outside, but from the inside it was somehow a view that was at the same time impossible and beautiful.

Farther back in the den were rooms, which surprised me as I knew male bears were solitary creatures and Barrowind wasn’t an exception to that rule. Had this been a female bears den, the multiple rooms would’ve made a lot of sense, though I still have no experience with that.

Barrowind motioned me into the library as he lumbered to the kitchen and deftly prepared a tray with tea and cups and sugar and cream. He brought it into the library and then sat in the chair opposite me, motioning for me to pour some tea.

“Why did you lash out?” He asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I just felt trapped.”

He nodded.

“Why do you lead the forest?” I asked.

He chuckled. “I don’t lead so much as help the creatures of the forest see what they need to see,” he said. “Most people cannot see my influence.”

“How can they not?” I asked.

“All creatures tend to see what they want. In your case, you may see the worst in different beings and as a part of that you work within the scope of your existence to fix that. In the case of most members of the forest community, they choose to see their own superiority over everything else.”